anyone found the root cause of why you gain weight?

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  • jos05
    jos05 Posts: 263 Member
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    Depression and eating everything that wasn't nailed down!
    **geesh! I am so glad I am happy with myself now... when I finally realized that I could become the woman I always wanted to be... I made every possible change to be that woman.

    It's all about willpower and having faith in yourself!

    -achieve your dreams by allowing yourself to be that awesome!! (feel free to quote me!)
  • JoelleAnn78
    JoelleAnn78 Posts: 1,492 Member
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    Feeling full made me happy.
  • beamer0821
    beamer0821 Posts: 488 Member
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    more calories in than out and being lazy are symptoms of a problem they are not the root cause
    just my little two cents.
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
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    Eating too many calories.

    Portion sizes more than a single serving, and foods with high caloric content.

    And being lazy.

    Once I fixed all of that, I started losing weight.
  • _db_
    _db_ Posts: 179 Member
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    <<


    I wasn't extremely overweight, but lack of exercise and a healthy love of the finest IPAs had helped me to pile on a few extra pounds of fat. I'm exercising regularly and eating a balanced diet. I have cut back my almost daily beer intake, because, really, 4-6 beers a day is very near an unhealthy love of the bitters.
  • lthames0810
    lthames0810 Posts: 722 Member
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    Someone on another thread had the opinion that obesity is a symptom of some other problem. That seems spot on to me, so I think the OP is wise to consider this question.

    For me it was binge eating in the middle of the night. It may have been boredom or distress from knowing I would have to face the day with not enough sleep. Now, eating from boredom or distress is a problem of its own and I don't have an anwer for it. I would like to think I'm enough of a grown up to distinguish between needs and wants, but I guess not.

    But why was I up in the middle of the night in the first place? Insomnia is really bad for you for many reasons besides the obvious. Tackling that has helped a great deal. I take melatonin an hour or so before bedtime and most nights it works. The nights that it doesn't, I'm still vulnerable to a binge.
  • scyian
    scyian Posts: 243 Member
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    Being chained to a desk job and I really love cooking and baking. Not a good combination. I do eat when I'm bored or stressed as well, which is the reason for the last 10lbs I've gained.

    Thankfully I've fixed the stress and boredom, managed to fit in exercise where I thought I couldn't and turned my cooking hobby to healthier alternatives.
  • Elsie_Brownraisin
    Elsie_Brownraisin Posts: 786 Member
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    Justin Bieber made me do it.

    Doesn't wash. Not even Justin Bieber is allowed to use that excuse.
  • Steffani911
    Steffani911 Posts: 196 Member
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    I like food and lots of it. :happy:
  • Elsie_Brownraisin
    Elsie_Brownraisin Posts: 786 Member
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    Desk jobs, video games and depression, oh, and being lazy. And eating more than an average family of 4.

    I agree. Once I stopped being depressed, I stopped eating 12 krispy kremes a day.
  • michellewelch2010
    michellewelch2010 Posts: 147 Member
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    Going from high school where I played sports and ran every minute of my spare time, to engineering at university where the little spare time I had consisted of drinking, socializing and eating. Lost all the weight post university, but then met someone who didn't need to watch what he ate, and I didn't want to be that woman who asks "I'll just have a salad"... Took a year of living together for me to finally give in and realize I will be cooking two versions of meals for the rest of my life, or I will be overweight for the rest of my life.
  • SapiensPisces
    SapiensPisces Posts: 992 Member
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    Depression and subsequent emotional eating was what made me so big.
  • brenn24179
    brenn24179 Posts: 2,144 Member
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    very good replies, I am probably lazy even though I didn't look at this. I think for me I really did not know the best way to manage my weight. I hate to admit my ignorance but with the people on here giving me support and ideas and telling me how much to eat and giving me some good advice I have managed to get my weight under control.
    We are lucky these days to have so much help like MFP. It is too hard to do this alone. I had skinny parents, they did not understand. Ya do, I needed people like me who have walked the walk and don't mind answering my questions and best yet sharing what has worked, it has been amazing, so glad a guy at the gym told me about MFP.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,326 Member
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    Someone on another thread had the opinion that obesity is a symptom of some other problem. That seems spot on to me, so I think the OP is wise to consider this question.

    For me it was binge eating in the middle of the night. It may have been boredom or distress from knowing I would have to face the day with not enough sleep. Now, eating from boredom or distress is a problem of its own and I don't have an anwer for it. I would like to think I'm enough of a grown up to distinguish between needs and wants, but I guess not.

    But why was I up in the middle of the night in the first place? Insomnia is really bad for you for many reasons besides the obvious. Tackling that has helped a great deal. I take melatonin an hour or so before bedtime and most nights it works. The nights that it doesn't, I'm still vulnerable to a binge.

    i definitely believe that (it might have even been me who said it on another post since i've stated it more than a few times on MFP)
    For me the physical process of weight gain/weight loss is easy : calories in calories out but it's really the underlying emotional reasons that were the true cause of my weight. to make a long story short, i always wanted to be BIGGER.

    the first part of my adulthood i was much smaller and my body shape was getting me too much unwanted attention which lead to me not feeling safe. the final straw came when i was living in france and in the span of 2 days i was was followed by 3 different men and a 4th physically picked me up and took me into a dark alley where he tried to rape me. i fought him off and got away but it was pretty much then that i was like "screw this. it's harder to pick up a fat girl"

    i'm a former athlete and my family was big on living close to the land so it's not a matter of not knowing what to eat, not understanding how calories work, etc. i knew exactly what i was doing and why when i'd go to the chinese restaurant, order a pizza, geta bucket of chicken and call that tuesday night dinner

    extra weight became a security blanket and it served a purpose. being overweight gave me the safety to not be afraid to express my personality, something that i found hard to do when i was smaller because i was already getting more than enough attention from my looks and i didnt want to exacerbate the situation with also having an outgoing personality.

    fast forward 2 decades and i think i feel safe enough to finally release the weight. i've taken self defense classes and feel relatively safe. just recently i dressed up and looked pretty damn hot and handled the attention without freaking out like i used to, so yeah i think it's time to let the weight go :happy:
  • sfbaumgarten
    sfbaumgarten Posts: 912 Member
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    I gain weight when I stop paying attention to what I eat.
  • ChaplainHeavin
    ChaplainHeavin Posts: 426 Member
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    My root cause was eating without paying attention to calories and macro nutrients. I grew up eating whatever I wanted and I would never gain weight, I was very skinny. When I hit my early 20's that started to change and I became overweight. Now I can still eat whatever I want but I do it in a controlled manor. I've lost 15 lbs and now i'm where I want to be with my weight. The key really is to develop a lifestyle so you keep the weight off. Mine is tracking my food each day and exercising 6 days a week. I can do that the rest of my life. People jump on these exercise programs or whatever the new fad diet is then they lose weight then when they quit the program they gain it all back which is why I say developing a lifestyle change is how to maintain it.

    This
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    more calories in than out and being lazy are symptoms of a problem they are not the root cause
    just my little two cents.

    That is the case for some...not the case for all. I have no food issues...I've never had a binge...I'm not an emotional eater or whatever. I do enjoy food very much and I'm a total foodie...I used to eat a ton of food, most of which was very good for me because I was an athlete growing up and proper nutrition is paramount to performance. Also, being a foodie I'm not too into junk food...I like good, wholesome food.

    When I ceased my training and "normal" life took over, I continued to eat like I did when I was training. For me, it's pretty straight forward. Not everyone has food issues or other underlying emotional issues as a root cause. I've figured out how much energy I need now for my current activity level and I'm totally fine...

    For me, it was just a matter of matching my intake to my output and having a better understanding of that relationship, not some deep seeded issue.
  • ChaplainHeavin
    ChaplainHeavin Posts: 426 Member
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    -achieve your dreams by allowing yourself to be that awesome!! (feel free to quote me!)

    Quoted
  • Fuzzipeg
    Fuzzipeg Posts: 2,301 Member
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    For me it has been in part, Salicylate Sensitivity, with bells an whistles, though more recently there may be overtones of untreated thyroid issues. 5/6 may be 7 years ago I worked hard to get my breathing back by avoiding maize starch which is in so many foods to be told the only treatment I could have was thyroxine with maize starch as the binder because I do not have the standard reaction to maize which would denote a true allergy . I took them for a while and lost my regained breathing depth and strength. When I was told to take the pills and use something else to improve my lung function I threw the pills out. I knew what was right for me. I totally lost trust in the medical profession. I tried iodine supplement but they also had salisylate side effects.

    I am awaiting blood tests results from our local teaching hospital because I now have chemical sensitivity, if I smell the wrong laundry products, perfume or personal hygiene products etc. I can sleep for a gold medal, be so wide awake I can't sleep, to this is add eating the wrong things when I can swell up and all the above . All this and more can be underwritten by low thyroid issues and I have read there is a relationship between salicylate sensitivity and thyroid problems because the salicylate undermines the thyroid in some though we all have a limit on the amount of salicylate our bodies will accept. The fortunate ones eat less than they can tolerate.

    I remember hearing NICE, I'm in the UK, announced many years ago that they would only sanction cheaper pills with maize starch binders. Maize is moderate in Salicylate content but one pill was enough to put me over what my body could take. I now have my fingers and toes crossed in the hope I will be able to have some medication which will suit me. This will not be all the answer but it will help.

    Some people are fortunate they have the perfectly functioning body in the first place.
  • beamer0821
    beamer0821 Posts: 488 Member
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    more calories in than out and being lazy are symptoms of a problem they are not the root cause
    just my little two cents.

    That is the case for some...not the case for all. I have no food issues...I've never had a binge...I'm not an emotional eater or whatever. I do enjoy food very much and I'm a total foodie...I used to eat a ton of food, most of which was very good for me because I was an athlete growing up and proper nutrition is paramount to performance. Also, being a foodie I'm not too into junk food...I like good, wholesome food.

    When I ceased my training and "normal" life took over, I continued to eat like I did when I was training. For me, it's pretty straight forward. Not everyone has food issues or other underlying emotional issues as a root cause. I've figured out how much energy I need now for my current activity level and I'm totally fine...

    For me, it was just a matter of matching my intake to my output and having a better understanding of that relationship, not some deep seeded issue.

    100% agree there is no magic answer one size fits all.
    but id put my money that for *most* emotionally eating are the core issues.

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